education Urrrgonomics


Interfaces are not created equal, nor are the people who use them. Matching a person’s lifestyle and UI are key to product satisfaction— and the “warm and fuzzy” feeling of having new stuff.


By Kris Bulla


I’m sure you’ve heard the word ergonomics before, but do you know what it means? Apparently it can mean different things to different industries. Depending on the dictionary you use to look it up, it can range from “human contact engineering” to “how a human being interacts with a machine or device.” All of those revolve around the same basic idea though, and that is how we as humans use products in our world. If upgrading a customer to a new head unit, have you


ever asked what they liked about the old unit as part of your process of getting them into a replacement unit?


54 Mobile Electronics April | May 2011


Have you taken a seat in their car to see what they currently have to try to improve their experience? Have you paid attention to the average ages of your custom- ers, and possibly even what devices they are carrying on them? Most aftermarket head units in our industry are DIN or Double DIN, which means there is a limited space in which the manufacturer must convey the information needed, display branding, and affix buttons and knobs in a usable format. To be able to get all of that capabil- ity and content into such a small portion of real estate


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